Painting Academy.

As soon as Bai Ziche entered the door, he was covered by the person who fell from the beam. Bai Ziche was almost so frightened that his heart stopped, but someone whispered in his ear: "Your Highness, don't be afraid, it's me." Bai Ziche breathed a sigh of relief and turned his head to look at Chu Zhixia.

The third prince was born today, and the emperor finally couldn't drag it out, so he was given the title of "Rui" to go out of the palace and build a mansion. Chu Zhixia was ordered to enter the palace for a banquet, wearing a dignified and gorgeous dress, with her hair in a high bun and a crown of gold and agate. She climbed high and low, flew the eaves and walked on the wall, but she only messed up the skirt, and she didn't even sweat much.

"Aren't you feasting in the hall," Bai Ziche was dumbfounded, "What are you doing here to the academy?" ”

"I pretended to be drunk and ran out." Chu Zhixia pinched his sleeves and gave him a smell, and there was a faint aroma of wine on his wet sleeves.

"So what are you doing here?" Bai Ziche was convinced and asked.

"Your Highness, do you remember that you once painted a picture of a beauty? At that time, Wang Xianfu still took the painting to the people, trying to find a woman who looked similar to the person in the painting and flattered His Majesty. Chu Zhixia asked, "Does Your Highness know who the woman in the painting is?" ”

That painting can be called a turning point in Bai Ziche's life, because of that painting, the regent noticed him who had been silent for many years, and designed to steal the "Guanyin Dashi Tu". The painting academy served Zheng Xun, and Bai Ziche's teacher would rather die than frame him, and committed suicide in the prison of Dali Temple.

Bai Ziche was silent for a moment and said, "This is a rumor, a taboo in the palace. ”

At the end of the twenty-seventh year of Emperor Ling, Emperor Ling, who asked for immortals, died, and the twelve-year-old crown prince ascended the throne with the iron support of the queen and his uncle, and changed his name to Jingtai. The lord is suspicious, the queen mother listens to the government, and the uncle is named the princess, and the power is tilted towards the government and the opposition.

In the fourth year of Jingtai, the crown prince married Chen Wan, the eldest daughter of the prince, and was canonized as the queen. gave birth to Bai Huan that year and became the prince. The new emperor was tired of being controlled by a veritable regent, but he couldn't struggle. At this moment, the new emperor happened to meet the goddess of Loulan.

"The so-called Loulan Goddess is just a pretext. Loulan has long since died in the country, what kind of goddess to talk about? But it is said that she is indeed beautiful, so beautiful that people feel that she is not mortal. His Majesty is powerless about the government, so he pins all his feelings on this woman. ”

Chu Zhixia interrupted Bai Ziche, "Your Majesty is so obsessed with the Loulan Goddess, didn't you give her a title?" ”

Bai Ziche shook his head and said, "Concubine Feng is going to enter the jade plate, I said, Your Majesty was powerless at that time." ”

The emperor's obsession with the goddess of Loulan attracted the attention of the Empress Dowager, who was at first dismissive. There is nothing behind the Loulan goddess, and she has only a demagogic beauty, and she can't even please the emperor. But in the winter of the eighth year of Jingtai, the goddess of Loulan gave birth to a prince.

The emperor was very happy, and in his drunkenness said that he would make this prince the prince.

Chu Zhixia's heart was suddenly pinched.

His Majesty was surrounded by the Queen Mother's people at that time, and this sentence naturally reached the ears of the Queen Mother. The Queen Mother came to the residence of the Loulan Goddess for the first time and let out a sigh. Bai Ziche paused and said, "'Even when I see you, I can't help but feel pity, let alone Your Majesty'." The queen mother gave the goddess a glass of wine and ordered the palace maid to drown the prince in the water. ”

Chu Zhixia thought in a daze, but the palace maid disobeyed this order.

The palace maid may have been "bewitched" by the goddess in the same way, maybe out of pity for this innocent child, or maybe for some other unknown reason. The palace maid escaped from the palace with the infant prince and died in the ghost market. She probably wanted to abscond from the ghost city to escape from the imperial capital, but she still died in front of the Dali Temple at that time.

But by mistake, the kid survived.

Although for a long time, he lived worse than dead, but he survived in the end.

Chu Zhixia felt a sore swelling in his eyes.

His Majesty was so grief-stricken that he couldn't get up from his sick bed for a while. Later, His Majesty gradually regained power and sent a painting academy to paint portraits of goddesses. Over the years, there have been countless discarded scrolls. According to His Majesty and the palace people who served the goddess back then, even if it is like my teacher's 'turning into a god's hand', it is difficult to imitate the demeanor of the goddess five or six times out of ten. ”

After Bai Ziche finished speaking, he looked at Chu Shixia and said, "You suddenly asked about this, is something wrong?" ”

Chu Shixia shook his head, and then asked, "Your Majesty appreciates your painting very much, is it because you paint the most like?" ”

"No, it's not."

Bai Ziche also shook his head and said, "It's because the teacher never let me see the portraits painted by other people for the goddess, but just let me stay in the former residence of the goddess and grope for the traces she left." He said that only in this way can I draw that shadow in His Majesty's heart. What I painted was actually just a side face of a woman leaning against the window, with few brushstrokes and ink, exhausting all my beautiful imagination of women in my life. ”

At that time, Bai Ziche was already sixteen years old, and the edict of the painting academy wanted him to use this painting to please the emperor, so that the emperor remembered that there was still this son's village, so as to put him in the fiefdom and stay away from the rights and wrongs in the palace.

But in the end, it backfired.

Bai Ziche suddenly got up and went out, Chu Zhixia sat in place and did not move, taking deep breaths repeatedly to digest the expected news. After a while, Bai Ziche came back with a slender dusty box in his hand, carrying a bright lamp in his hand.

"I think you might want to see this." Bai Ziche said, "This is the portrait that my teacher painted for the goddess back then, and according to others, only this one is slightly satisfactory to Your Majesty." It should be somewhat similar to a real person. ”

Chu Zhixia violently pressed Bai Ziche's hand on the lock.

Bai Ziche raised his eyes and looked at her quietly.

"Over the years, I have been pondering the appearance and expression of the Loulan goddess, her smile, joy, anger and sorrow. I pinned my hopes of escaping this nine-fold palace on a poor woman who had long since turned to white bones. ”

Bai Ziche said: "When I first saw Shen Zhou, I was thinking that if the Loulan Goddess was not His Majesty's fantasy, if she really lived in this world, then she should have a face like Shen Zhou. ”

Chu Zhixia knew that there was no point in covering it up any longer, so he let go of his hand in frustration.

Bai Zi was clear, stubbornly opened the box, and shook off the yellowed picture scroll.

The reason why "Avatar Hand" is called "Avatar Hand" is because he is the best at describing people's demeanor, and the expression of the corners of his eyes and eyebrows is vivid under a few ink marks. But even if the painting skills are as superb as Zheng Xun, the Loulan goddess in his pen is still unrealistically beautiful. She was wearing a red palace dress, looking back at the people outside the painting, her expression was indifferent, but she was so beautiful that it made people tremble.

She does have a face that bears a striking resemblance to Shen Zhou.

"I didn't mean to hide it from you, Your Highness." Chu Zhixia took a deep breath and said, "I haven't even thought about how to speak to Shen Zhou. ”

——

Deng Mian had nothing to do in Autumn Leaf Mountain, so he ran around behind Yuzhu's buttocks, helping people serve tea and water for a while, and jumping up and down to help people find cats. He seemed to have nowhere to vent his grief, so he had to work in a muffled voice, and actually set up a swing in the yard.

Chu Zhixia sat on the swing and shook it back and forth, rubbing the dragon blood jade ring in his hand repeatedly.

The cat's soft meat pad suddenly rubbed on Chu Zhixia's face.

Shen Zhou hugged the reluctant cat, pinched its paws, and stared at Chu Zhixia.

"What's wrong?" Chu Zhixia smiled reluctantly and asked.

"You've been upset lately." Shen Zhou sat beside her and said, "Is it because of Deng Mian?" ”

"It's not."

Shen Zhou saw the dragon blood jade ring in her hand and said, "Do you want to find out who that baby is?" ”

"Can you find it?"

"I can't find it."

Shen Zhou shook his head and said, "There are more dead people than living people in the ghost city, and there are not so many good people who will take their children back to raise them, maybe he will die a long time ago." And Jingtai has been twenty-one years now, and no one will remember a baby that was discarded casually and has no characteristics. ”

Chu Zhixia didn't look interested, and nodded sullenly. Shen Zhou felt his heart clogged and reached out to pinch the flesh on her cheek.

"But why are you checking if he's still alive?" Shen Zhou was confused, "You have a dragon blood jade ring, give it directly to the emperor, and he will believe what you say." ”

"Yes," Chu Zhixia smiled listlessly and said, "You're right. ”

Shen Zhou hung his head and said, "But I don't think I'm right." ”

You're still not happy.

"Shen Zhou," Chu Zhixia asked tentatively, "Have you ever thought about looking for your family?" ”

Shen Zhou shook his head without hesitation.

Chu Zhixia was not surprised, and asked, "Why?" ”

"No one will accept a child like me."

Shen Zhou stretched out his hand to catch a snowflake, and said calmly: "Even if you find it, what can you do?" Whether I was stolen by the Nine Shadows or abandoned by my family, it no longer makes sense. I don't understand the feelings between my family, I don't feel what I hurt, I like it. For them, it is better for such a child to die outside. ”

Chu Zhixia's heart ached, and he couldn't bear to let him continue.

But Shen Zhou continued: "I have seen many parents who have lost their children, some are in pain, and some will have more children. So whether I look for them or not, maybe it doesn't matter to them. Anyway, there will be a more obedient and caring child than me to take my place. ”

"A child has only one pair of parents, but a parent can have more than one child." Shen Zhou said coldly.

Shen Zhou humored inappropriately and said, "You ask me this kind of question, don't you want me?" ”

Chu Zhixia finally showed a sincere smile, and said helplessly: "Whoever doesn't want you, I won't want you." Our sunken boat is beautiful and cute, and one of them will be stolen if you don't look at it. I'm sure I'm holding your hand all the time, for fear that you'll get lost and won't find your way home. ”

Shen Zhou reached out to hug her slimy, the tip of his nose against her warm neck.

I know. Shen Zhou closed his eyes contentedly, enjoying the warmth of the moment, and said in his heart.

Chu Zhixia hugged Shen Zhou's back with a heavy heart, and lowered his eyes to look at the dragon blood jade ring in his hand.

——

Late at night, Weiyang Palace.

The Emperor sat up irritably from the bed and hurriedly put on his robe. Concubine Rong kept comforting him, and lightly tied up his robe for him. The emperor walked outside, took a large sip of strong tea, and looked impatiently at Cheng Yuan, who was kneeling outside the bead curtain.

"Cheng Qing, what do you have to report late at night?" The emperor rubbed his temples, and his eyes clearly wrote, "If it weren't for a hundred thousand urgent events, you would have died."

Cheng Yuan calmly held the box above his head with both hands, and said: "The ministers were ordered to confiscate the family property of Deng Huan, the former secretary of Dali Temple, and found this thing in his home. The minister expected that it should be from the palace, but he did not find it in the list of imperial gifts, so he came to the palace to meet His Majesty. ”

The emperor disapprehensively asked the chamberlain to take the box, but the moment the box opened, he froze in place, almost forgetting to breathe. The emperor only felt a roar of wind and snow in his head, and the time of twenty-one years rushed by like a torrent, and he was in it, like an ant.

It was a dragon's blood jade ring.

In the Weiyang Palace, which is as bright as day, the jade ring is like a smear of blood smeared in the water. The dragon's scales, claws, and even the flying whiskers were delicately engraved, as if they would fly away from the box in the next moment.

"It's in ...... Searched out of Dali Siqing's house? The emperor looked up at Cheng Yuan, his eyes were about to split, and the whites of his eyes burst out with bloodshots, like beasts that wanted to eat people.

Cheng Yuan was stunned for a moment, and then replied: "Yes." ”

The emperor said "Okay, good", and then grabbed the dragon blood jade ring, like a drowning man grasping straw. The emperor walked around the Weiyang Palace like a trapped beast, as if he was catching a ghost floating in the palace. The emperor suddenly paused, strode to Cheng Yuan's side, and pulled out his knife.

Cheng Yuan was so shocked that his heart stopped, but the emperor skipped him and strode into the boundless wind and snow outside Weiyang Palace. Cheng Yuan reacted, hurriedly jumped up, and beckoned the stunned Yu Linwei and the inner palace attendants to follow.

A mighty group of people rushed to the Luhe Palace, and the alarmed palace people had already woken up the Queen Mother. The Queen Mother frowned and watched the emperor rush in with a knife, she was already frightened, but she maintained a calm and dignified face.

"Emperor, are you going to kill your mother with your son?" The Queen Mother asked coldly.

"Killing a mother with a son? Mother, do you finally remember that I am your son? The emperor kicked over the splendid screen.

The screen that fell to the ground frightened the palace people to retreat again and again, and the Queen Mother couldn't help but raise her hand to caress her heart and look at the emperor in shock.

"For so many years, for so many years, you only remember that you are the daughter of the Chen family and the sister of the regent, when will you remember that I am your son? When you forced me to marry Chen Wan; You said to me that the Lord Shaoguo is suspicious, and there should be the support of the elders; When you imprisoned the daughter of the Chu clan in the clouds, and wanted to force me to only have the Chen clan to rely on, why couldn't you remember that I was your son! ”

The emperor raised the dragon blood jade ring, and the queen mother was already shocked and speechless.

"This is what I put in my son's swaddling clothes with my own hands." The Emperor laughed, his smile bitter and bitter, "You know how much I value this child. From the time I was pregnant in October to the time he was born, I ran to the Qin Heavenly Prison and the Hanlin Academy, for fear that there would be a little bad meaning, so that I lost him and failed to settle his name. ”

"He was congenitally deficient and died ......," the Queen Mother said strongly.

"It's you, it's you, Chen Bang and Chen Wan who joined forces to kill my son! This jade ring was searched from the home of Deng Huan, the Qing of Dali Temple, if he died of illness, how could this jade ring be in his hands! I was the only one who was stupid, and I was already suspicious, but I still believed that my mother, my son's grandmother, would not do such a thing. It was I who deceived myself and deceived myself for so many years! ”

The queen mother was supported by the palace maid and couldn't stop trembling.

The Son of Heaven was furious, and millions of corpses were ambushed, and everyone in the temple should be afraid. But it was the emperor himself who burst into tears, and under the body of the Ninety-Five, there was a young husband and a young father who had more than enough heart and insufficient strength twenty-one years ago.

Yu Linwei's saber was heavy, and the emperor trembled when he lifted it, but the tip of his sword stubbornly pointed at the panicked Queen Mother, and did not deviate in the slightest.

"If you want great power, you want the honor of the Chen family, I will give it to you. But why are you forcing me, I just want her, I just want a child. You leave me a puppet and live my own life in the palace, but this is not enough! ”

The emperor roared: "For so many years, you have watched me dislike the empress, hate Bai Huan and Bai Yu, and watch me look for traces of her in the mountains of paintings. Have you ever had a moment, if only a moment, pity me? ”

"The Queen Mother's sentence uses the allusion of "I see pity, let alone the old slave".